Steve Cowper | |
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![]() Cowper in 1990 | |
6th Governor of Alaska | |
In office December 1, 1986 –December 3, 1990 | |
Lieutenant | Steve McAlpine |
Preceded by | Bill Sheffield |
Succeeded by | Wally Hickel |
Member of the AlaskaHouseofRepresentatives from the 20th district | |
In office January 20,1975 –January 14,1979 | |
Preceded by | Multi-member district |
Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
Personal details | |
Born | Stephen Cambreleng Cowper August 21,1938 Petersburg,Virginia,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Deanna Elizabeth Blanco (divorced) Margaret Stewart (1985–1991) (divorced) |
Children | 3 |
Education | University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill (BA,LLB) |
Signature | ![]() |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Unit | Army Medical Corps United States Army Reserve |
Stephen Cambreleng Cowper (born August 21,1938) is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth governor of Alaska from 1986 to 1990. He was governor during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Cowper is the CEO of Steve Cowper &Associates. He has also served on the boards of multiple energy-related companies in the US and Canada.
Cowper was born in 1938 in Petersburg,Virginia,to Stephanie (née Smith) and Marion Cowper. He was raised in Kinston,North Carolina and attended Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg,Virginia. [1] He received bachelor's and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,and after serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and Army Reserve,he worked as a maritime lawyer in Norfolk,Virginia,for three years. [2] Cowper moved to Fairbanks,Alaska,in 1968 and served as assistant district attorney for rural Alaska and Fairbanks. [2]
In 1970,Cowper went to Vietnam and worked as a freelance correspondent throughout Asia. Upon returning to Alaska,he wrote a political column for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ,taught a college course on Alaska lands,was a partner in an air taxi and cargo business,and worked as a diver for a University of Alaska [ clarification needed ] marine research team. [2]
In 1974,Cowper was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives,where he served two terms. [3] During his time in the House,he served as chairman of the Finance Committee (1977–1978),chairman of the Steering Council on Alaska Lands (1978),a member of the Subsistence Committee (1977–1978),and a member of the Alaska Advisory Committee for the Law of the Sea Conference (1978). In 1982,Cowper ran for governor,but narrowly lost the Democratic nomination to Bill Sheffield,who went on to win the general election. [3]
Cowper ran for governor again in 1986,and defeated incumbent Sheffield in the August 26 primary by a 2–1 margin. [3] He eventually won the November 4 general election,winning 47% of the vote against Republican state Senator Arliss Sturgulewski and Alaskan Independence Party candidate Joe Vogler. [3]
Once in office,Cowper proposed reestablishing the state income tax to help close the state's billion-dollar deficit;this proposal was met with strong opposition. He advocated the expansion of the University of Alaska's international study program,hoped to establish an International Trade Center,and placed emphasis on the teaching of foreign languages and culture in state schools. In early 1989,he announced that he would not seek reelection in 1990,a decision considered a surprise by some observers. [3]
After serving as governor,Cowper served as a visiting fellow at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1991,and was a Co-Chairman of the Pacific Rim Fisheries Conference in 1994 and 1997. [4]
Since 1991,he has been the CEO of Steve Cowper &Associates,a group that advises companies and governments on energy-related initiatives. He has also served on the boards of multiple energy-related companies in the US and Canada. As of 2010,Cowper lived in Austin,Texas with his third wife and family.[ citation needed ]
Walter Joseph Hickel was an American businessman,real estate developer,and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994,as well as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1969 to 1970. He worked as a construction worker and eventually became a construction company operator during Alaska's territorial days. Following World War II,Hickel became heavily involved with real estate development,building residential subdivisions,shopping centers and hotels. Hickel entered politics in the 1950s during Alaska's battle for statehood and remained politically active for the rest of his life.
Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett,was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Senator. A key fighter for Alaska statehood,Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1939 to 1945,in Congress from 1945 to 1959 as a Delegate,and from 1959 until his death in 1968 as a U.S. senator. He was opposed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam,along with his fellow Senator Ernest Gruening,and also worked to warn people about the dangers of radiation. Many acts bear his name,including a major law known as the Bartlett Act,mandating handicap access in all federally-funded buildings.
William Jennings Sheffield Jr. was an American Democratic politician who was the fifth governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1986. Sheffield's term in the governor's mansion was marked by controversy including attempts to have him impeached.
The Alaska Statehood Act was introduced by Delegate E.L. Bob Bartlett and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7,1958. As a result,Alaska became the 49th U.S. state on January 3,1959. The law was the culmination of a multi-decade effort by many prominent Alaskans,including Bartlett,Ernest Gruening,Bill Egan,Bob Atwood,and Ted Stevens.
Virginia Episcopal School (VES) is a private,co-educational college preparatory,boarding and day school for students in grades 9 - 12,located in Lynchburg,Virginia,United States. The school was first conceived in 1906 by the Reverend Robert Carter Jett,and opened its doors to students in September 1916. Virginia Episcopal School's 160-acre (0.65 km2) campus is located above the James River in Lynchburg along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Terrence B. "Terry" Miller was an American businessman and politician. Miller served as the fourth lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1978 to 1982. His political career,which began while he was in his early 20s,lasted over two decades and was cut short by his death from lung cancer at age 46.
Stephen Alan "Steve" McAlpine is an American lawyer and politician. McAlpine served as the fifth lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1982 until 1990.
Although in its early years of statehood,Alaska was a Democratic state,since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development,fishing,tourism,and individual rights. Alaska Natives,while organized in and around their communities,have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land,which require stewardship. The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States,with the Alaskan Independence Party,but its membership has shrunk in recent decades.
Louis Mead Treadwell II is an American businessman and politician who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Alaska from 2010 to 2014. Treadwell also served as chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission from 2006 to 2010. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a candidate for the 2014 U.S. Senate election in Alaska.
Bob Poe is an American businessman and former cabinet member who ran for Governor of Alaska in the 2010 Alaska gubernatorial election. Poe announced his candidacy in January 2009 and was the first Democrat to announce his intention to run for governor. He has worked with various administrations in Alaska under former Governors Bill Sheffield,Steve Cowper,Tony Knowles,and Wally Hickel. On June 14,2010 he announced that he was withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.
Stephen Max "Steve" Thompson is a retired businessman and Republican politician from the US state of Alaska. He has been a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from District 2 in Fairbanks since 2011. He previously served as mayor of Fairbanks from 2001 to 2007.
Jane Arliss Sturgulewski was an American businesswoman and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. In a political career in which she started appearing in the spotlight in 1975,she represented Anchorage in the Alaska Senate from 1979 to 1993. Twice during off-years in re-election to her four-year Senate term,she won the Republican nomination for governor of Alaska against mostly conservative opposition in blanket primaries. The second time,in 1990,she came out in third place behind Walter Hickel and runner up Tony Knowles,which was the second of three times in Alaska's history a major-party nominee placed third. She won a 2000 Anchorage Athena award.
Richard J. Greuel was an American radio announcer,real estate businessman,and Democratic politician in the U.S. territory and state of Alaska. Greuel served as speaker of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives during the last territorial legislature,and would also serve in the Alaska House of Representatives following statehood.
The 1986 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4,1986,for the post of Governor of Alaska. Incumbent Governor Bill Sheffield,a Democrat who was seeking re-election,was defeated by Steve Cowper in the Democratic primary election on August 26,1986.
The 1982 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 2,1982,for the post of Governor of Alaska. To replace outgoing Republican governor Jay Hammond,Democratic nominee Bill Sheffield defeated three opponents:Republican nominee Tom Fink,Libertarian nominee Dick Randolph and Alaskan Independence Party nominee Joe Vogler. Hammond had endorsed his lieutenant governor,Terry Miller,who lost the Republican nomination to Fink in the primary election,as did Don Wright. Sheffield defeated Steve Cowper and former Lieutenant Governor H. A. Boucher for the Democratic nomination.
Kenneth James Fanning is an American hunting and fishing guide and former politician. In 1980,Fanning was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Libertarian,becoming the second person elected to a U.S. state legislature under that party,following his political mentor Dick Randolph. Fanning served a single term,losing reelection. He later joined the Republican Party and was appointed to fill out a vacancy in the Alaska Senate in 1987,serving in that body for a little over a year.
Walter Bruce "Walt" Parker was an American civil servant,policy adviser,transportation adviser,academic and local politician. Parker's career focused on the development of natural resources,transportation and infrastructure in Alaska from the 1940s to the 2000s. In 1989,Alaska Governor Steve Cowper appointed Parker as the chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission,which investigated the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He is credited with making important contributions to the fields of transportation,telecommunications,education,land use and urban planning within the state of Alaska. Parker was inducted into the Alaska Conservation Hall of Fame by the Alaska Conservation Foundation in 2002 for his contributions to state conservation.
Michael Margaret Stewart,formerly Michael Cowper,was an American lawyer and literacy advocate. She served as the sixth First Lady of Alaska during the tenure of her former husband,Alaska Governor Steve Cowper. Stewart established and launched the state reading program,"Look to a Book",as First Lady.
Bette M. Cato was an American politician who served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1981 to 1989. She was a member of the Democratic Party.